On the calendar today …
- LEG HEARING: Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water beginning at 9am. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
- MEETING: State Water Resources Control Board beginning at 9:30am. Agenda includes consideration of proposed changes to the Administrator Policy Handbook under the Safe and Affordable Fund for Equity and Resilience program; Wastewater Needs Assessment Informational Item; Consideration of a proposed Resolution to adopt the State Fiscal Year 2023-24 Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) Intended Use Plan (IUP); and Consideration of a proposed Resolution to approve the final Initial Biological Goals for Lower San Joaquin River Flow Objectives (no sooner than 1pm). Click here for the full agenda.
- WEBINAR: 30X30 Biodiversity Showcase Celebrating Biodiversity Week from 10:30am to 12:00pm. Join the Natural Resources Agency in celebration of biodiversity week as we explore with several 30×30 biodiversity tour guides to learn more about the places they care about and the work they are doing to protect, steward, and restore biodiversity across the state. We’ll discuss how biodiversity plays a critical role in sustaining and enhancing California’s ecosystems and communities, and how the 30×30 Partnership is putting the state on a path toward a more resilient, productive, and hopeful future. We look forward to celebrating biodiversity week and our 30×30 Partnership work with you! Click here to register.
- LUNCH-MAR: Environmental Flows Framework from 12:30pm to 1:30pm. The California Environmental Flows Framework (CEFF) will be discussed at the next Flood-Managed Aquifer Recharge (Flood-MAR) Program lunch meeting. The CEFF is an approach to develop environmental flow recommendations that balance human and ecological needs for water. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
Restored Delta tidal marsh fights climate change and attracts wildlife, native species
“Once eyed for thousands of homes, the recently restored Dutch Slough tidal marsh in east Contra Costa County is already flourishing as a new habitat for fish and wildlife, a living laboratory for scientists and one of the world’s strongest sinks for absorbing and storing carbon long-term. Led by the state Department of Water Resources, the ambitious $73 million project to restore 1,187 acres of freshwater Delta tidal wetlands near Oakley – one of the largest such projects in the state – is a little more than half finished. When it is completed, the scientists are hoping it will become a model for future restoration projects, climate change defenses and scientific research. “It’s taking in carbon at a rate compared to the top 1 percentile (of all ecosystems) in the world (annually),” said Katie Bandy, the department’s Dutch Slough Tidal Marsh Restoration project manager. “It’s taking in a lot more carbon than other land is producing.” … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News (gift article).
Rural land grab in Solano County prompts hearing
“Alarmed by a company that they say has been operating in the shadows buying large swaths of farmland in Solano County, farmers and their advocates say the state should bolster its toolbox to protect agricultural resources and open space. The call came during a hearing last week at the state Capitol, where the state Senate Agriculture Committee held a panel discussion on “navigating threats to California agriculture.” The meeting was prompted by concerns that a group known as Flannery Associates LLC since 2018 has amassed 400 parcels spanning nearly 55,000 acres of agricultural-zoned land near Travis Air Force Base. The group—now the largest landowner in Solano County—formed the limited liability company so as not to expose the source of more than $800 million used to purchase the land. That 75% of the land surrounds the air force base raises national security concerns, local officials and state lawmakers have said. … ” Read more from Ag Alert.
Google vet wants to turn your hot water heater into a “virtual power plant”
“Rick Klau spent nine years as a partner with Google Ventures, before leaving in 2020 to become California’s chief technology innovation officer. Now he’s back in the private sector with a startup that wants to revolutionize the humble hot water heater. Klau is co-founder of Onsemble, which today will announce $3 million in seed funding and a rollout in three Northern California counties. The basic idea is to turn residential boilers into what’s become known as virtual power plants — an aggregated group of connected devices whose usage is coordinated with electric grid operators. Consumers effectively would get to offset most of the cost of upgrading from gas to electric hot water heaters, in exchange for utilization during non-peak hours. … ” Continue reading from Axios.
California regional water usage declines as statewide water stores remain above average
“According to new data released by the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), average monthly residential water use sharply declined in the first half of 2023, with water stores in reservoirs and other places continuing to remain well above average. Since the late 2010’s until earlier this year, California was under a megadrought, with 100% of the state being at least under a ‘moderate drought’ in October 2022. In some reservoirs, water stores became so low that electric generators stopped working, while others, like Lake Oroville, had water levels become so low that giant ‘bathtub rings’ of where the water level was once at became prominent features. As a result, water restrictions were placed statewide, with some areas, such as Los Angeles, even severely limiting law watering to only a few days a week and banning self-washing of cars. … ” Read more from the California Globe.
Coalition of groups submits protest against water rights application for Sites Reservoir
“Friends of the River (FOR) and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), along with a coalition of tribes and environmental organizations, on August 31 submitted a protest against the water rights application and petitions of the Sites Project Authority for the proposed Sites Reservoir. FOR and CSPA, two of California’s oldest and most respected water conservation organizations, said this protest is part of a legally required process to ensure public concerns are addressed when granting water rights in California. The coalition includes the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, AquAlliance, California Water Impact Network, Cal Wild, Fly Fishers of Davis, Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk, Northern California Council of Fly Fishers International, Restore the Delta, Save California Salmon, Sierra Club California, and Water Climate Trust. … ” Read more from the Daily Kos.
Toxic threat in the Delta: Submerged tugboat leaking fuel and oil is just one of hundreds of vessels recovered or removed in recent years
“San Joaquin County officials on Tuesday said no wildlife had been impacted by fuel that leaked into the Delta from a sinking boat over the weekend. On Monday morning, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s Environmental Health Department were made aware of a submerged tug boat in the Delta’s Empire Tract area, near Herman’s and Helen’s, that was leaking fuel. “Approximately 200 yards of rainbow sheen and fuel odor were reported in the area, and the boat had approximately 600 gallons of gasoline and 100 gallons of diesel on board before sinking,” the county said a media statement Tuesday. “No one was injured in the incident.” An environmental scientist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife was dispatched to the Delta and was still on scene Tuesday, the county said. … ” Read more from the Lodi News-Sentinel.
Some of the highest-quality cotton in the US is among the casualties of Tulare Lake
“If you’ve got a cotton hoodie or pair of leggings you’d describe as “buttery soft,” chances are it’s made of pima cotton. And according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the largest pima producer in the country is Kings County. “Not too many places can grow it like we do,” said Roger Isom, president and CEO of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association. This year, however, most of the land that would have been planted with pima cotton was underwater, among the 170 square miles submerged when Tulare Lake refilled. … ” Read more from KVPR.
3D-printed ‘living material’ could clean up contaminated water
“Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new type of material that could offer a sustainable and eco-friendly solution to clean pollutants from water. Dubbed an “engineered living material,” it is a 3D-printed structure made of a seaweed-based polymer combined with bacteria that have been genetically engineered to produce an enzyme that transforms various organic pollutants into benign molecules. The bacteria were also engineered to self-destruct in the presence of a molecule called theophylline, which is often found in tea and chocolate. This offers a way to eliminate them after they have done their job. The researchers describe the new decontaminating material in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications. … ” Read more from UC San Diego.
Five ways NAWI is advancing water treatment and desalination technologies
“Innovative water treatment and desalination technologies hold promise for building climate resilience, realizing a circular water economy, and bolstering water security. However, more research and development is critical not only to radically lower the cost and energy of such technologies, but to effectively treat unconventional water sources. Conventional water supplies, such as fresh water and groundwater, are typically used once and thrown away, rendering this valuable and finite resource inaccessible for further use. Since its launch in 2019, the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) has made strides in developing new technologies to economically treat, use, and recycle unconventional waters (such as brackish groundwater, municipal and industrial wastewater, and agricultural run-off), which could point to a future where water equity and security is accessible to all. Led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and supported by the United States Department of Energy, NAWI is a five-year, $110 million research program and public-private partnership. NAWI brings together over 1670 individual NAWI Alliance members, over 400 partnering organizations, and numerous water research facilities. … ” Read more from Berkeley Lab.
Map shows where California’s wildfires became more explosive
“Climate change has made California wildfires more explosive, increasing the number of days with extreme growth by 25%, according to a study led by scientists at San Jose State University, UC Berkeley and other California research institutions. While past studies examined how climate change influenced wildfire activity over entire years, the new work provided insight into the day-to-day behavior of blazes. The researchers used machine learning methods to analyze California wildfires from 2003 to 2020 and identified details about topography, weather and fuels associated with fire growth over 10,000 acres in a single day. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
In commentary today …
Water shortages: A problem we can and must solve now
Kenneth R. Pike, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Law at the Florida Institute of Technology, writes, “In 1964, US President Lyndon B. Johnson made a historic request: he wanted a large-scale, nuclear-powered desalination programme to address the growing need for potable water in the American Southwest. Members of the federal government were dispatched to Israel for conversations with the world’s leading experts on desalination technology. Four years later, the Secretary of the Interior and the Chairman of the US Atomic Energy Commission submitted a report endorsing nuclear-powered desalination as a “solution to the Southwest region water supply” and outlining locations for the relevant facilities. These plans never came to fruition. Disputes over the salinity of the Colorado River soured America’s diplomatic relations with Mexico, especially on water issues. … ” Continue reading at Aero.
Today’s featured article …
Agrivoltaics: Combining agriculture and solar PV for a sustainable future
“California is leading the charge in clean energy with its ambitious goals. By 2030, the state aims to have 60 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources, and by 2045, it plans to achieve 100 percent renewable and zero-carbon energy. In 2021, California made significant progress towards these goals, with over 37 percent of its retail electricity sales coming from renewable sources.
While solar power, wind power, and other renewable sources will play a crucial role, one challenge is the amount of land needed to produce renewable energy compared to fossil fuels. However, there is a solution on the horizon: agrivoltaics.
Agrivoltaics combines the use of land for both agriculture and solar photovoltaic energy generation. Rather than seeing agriculture and solar energy as competitors, agrivoltaics takes a complementary approach. This innovative technique has the potential to generate energy on farmland while simultaneously reducing water usage, minimizing the impact on natural lands, and increasing crop yields. Agrivoltaics could help California achieve its clean energy goals while supporting its agricultural industry.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Reclamation affirms Klamath Project 2023 water supply
“Reclamation announced today that the Klamath Project water supply allocation, originally announced on April 13 and increased on May 19, will remain at 260,000 acre-feet and no reductions will be made to Klamath Project water users. Irrigation districts and Tribes were notified on August 18, that a curtailment may be necessary due to a potential shortfall in water supply. Due to improved hydrology in the Klamath Basin over the last two weeks; opportunities for Upper Klamath Lake water conservation this fall and winter; and coordination with Tribal partners and water users, no curtailments will be necessary. “The Department appreciates the willingness of our partners to engage in productive conversations to work through the past couple of weeks,” said Matthew Strickler, Department of the Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Parks. “We landed in a place that confirms our commitment to water users and fulfilling environmental needs.” … ” Read more from the Bureau of Reclamation.
Reclamation backtracks, will not curtail water to Klamath Project
“The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will not curtail water to the Klamath Project in Southern Oregon and Northern California, despite an earlier warning to irrigators that cutbacks might be necessary to satisfy protections for endangered fish. The bureau initially said in May it would provide 260,000 acre-feet of water to the project from Upper Klamath Lake. On Aug. 18, Alan Heck, acting area director for Reclamation, sent a letter to tribes and irrigation districts notifying them of a projected shortfall in water to the project, which serves 230,000 acres of irrigated farmland. … ” Read more from the Capital Press.
A win for salmon: Advocates and tribes celebrate historic Klamath dam removals
“After twenty years of protest and opposition, many of the Klamath dams near the California-Oregon border are finally coming down. The Klamath Dam Removal Project began its first dam demolition in June. The project will be the largest dam removal in U.S. history and consists of the removal of four of the six dams along the Klamath River: J.C. Boyle, Copco 1, Copco 2, and Iron Gate. Once all four dams are removed, fish will have access to about 400 additional miles of habitat that was previously inaccessible to them, according to officials, allowing for the species to repopulate. The dams had been causing diseases for the fish, especially at the Iron Gate hatchery where fish often returned to breed. … ” Read more from the Lost Coast Outpost.
Exploring the Yurok Tribe’s management of the Klamath River
“Melodie Meyer is associate general counsel for the Yurok Tribe in Northern California—one of the few California tribes whose members still reside on a portion of their ancestral lands. The Yurok reservation borders a 44-mile stretch of the Klamath River; we asked Ms. Meyer to tell us more about efforts to protect the watershed. Tell us about the Yurok Tribe’s water management program on the Klamath River. The Tribe’s water programs center around managing water quality—ensuring that the tributaries that drain into the Klamath are healthy and not polluted. The environmental department’s water division has staff dedicated to dealing with permitting for the water programs, as well as a water quality control plan and a water pollution control ordinance. … ” Read more from the PPIC.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
The monster that feeds and eats away at Lake Tahoe
“On a busy late July weekday at the beach in Incline Village, Nevada, on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, swimmers dip in and out of the frigid sapphire water while a kids’ summer camp wraps up for the day. The 20-something counselor belts out an order to his mini squadron. “First one to pick up all their trash and put it in the bins wins!” The children giggle and scurry across the coarse sand, scooping up sandwich bags and other lunchbox remnants. Within minutes, all that remains are indents from their tiny feet. The scene is a far cry from what happened on July 4 at Zephyr Shoals, another popular Lake Tahoe beach 16 miles south, where holiday revelers left more than 6,000 pounds of trash, plastic, clothing, toys, and other miscellaneous junk. Videos of the litter-fest went viral on social media and made international news, sparking outrage and calls for change by everyone from residents to environmental watchdogs. But the blatant disregard for Lake Tahoe’s natural beauty is just another incident in a string of many over the years that have prompted tourism officials and environmentalists to rethink just what type of visitor Lake Tahoe should court. … ” Continue reading at CNN.
Can robots keep Tahoe’s beaches and water clean?
“When the July Fourth crowds cleared out from Tahoe’s beaches this year, visitors left thousands of pounds of trash behind — Zephyr Shoals alone had 6,300 pounds of rubbish. The next day, volunteers flocked to the beaches, picking up broken coolers and lawn chairs, plastic cups and aluminum cans. But more rubbish, unseen by the volunteers, hid just beneath the sand. Across Tahoe’s beaches, scraps like bottle caps, bits of Styrofoam and cigarette butts remained. … Traditional methods for rounding up litter in the water and on the lakeshores are no longer sufficient, according to the League to Save Lake Tahoe, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting the Tahoe Basin. Enter the BEBOT and the PixieDrone, zero-emission robots designed specifically to clean sandy beaches and the surfaces of lakes. … ” Read more from the Sparks Tribune.
Alpine County to hold Towns to Trail stakeholder meeting
“The Eastern Sierra Towns to Trails Plan effort seeks stakeholder input. “Towns to Trails” will identify a multi-use trail network that will connect Eastern Sierra communities to each other and to public lands throughout the region as well as to destinations south and north. On September 13, 2023, the planning team will be holding an in-person stakeholder meetings to discuss trail opportunities, explore potential alignments, and identify connections between communities and surrounding public lands. Opportunities and challenges derived from these discussions will be utilized in subsequent trail planning efforts and shared in a forthcoming series of stakeholder meetings. … ” Read more from the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
RiverArc Project receives $5.1 million Wildlife Conservation Board grant
“On August 24 th, the River Arc Project, a collaborative project aimed at enhancing regional water supply and bolstering wildlife resilience, received a substantial $5.1 million grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board. This funding will help maintain the current streamflow on the Lower American River, a designated Wild & Scenic River, by strategically shifting water supply diversions to the much larger Sacramento River. This project is led by the Placer County Water Agency in partnership with the City of Sacramento, Sacramento County Water Agency, and the California American Water Company. The RiverArc Project, detailed comprehensively on the official website (https://www.riverarcproject.com/), seeks to address critical environmental challenges and secure a sustainable water future for the region. … ” Read more from the Placer County Water Agency.
The unbuilt dam that created California’s tallest bridge
“On Labor Day 1973, the Foresthill Bridge opened to the public. At an astounding height of 730 feet, it was the second-highest bridge in the world at the time and the highest in the state of California. The bridge outside of Auburn still holds the record as the state’s highest bridge by deck height and is the third-highest bridge in the country, according to National Geographic. The bridge towers over Sacramento’s 423-ft. Wells Fargo Center, the tallest building in the city, and provides some of the most breathtaking views of the foothills and the Sierra Nevada. The Foresthill Bridge spans 2,428 feet across a canyon carved by the North Fork of the American River. It cost the Bureau of Reclamation $13 million to build, the equivalent of $86,747,477 if paid for today. However, the bridge was made in preparation for an even bigger project that never came to be: the Auburn Dam and subsequent Auburn Lake. … ” Read more from Channel 40.
Sacramento’s Regional Water Authority wants to make groundwater storage more flexible. Here’s how you can provide input
“The Sacramento Regional Water Authority is preparing to take the next step in maximizing the storage and flexibility of the metro area’s groundwater. Before that happens, water managers want input from the community. For the past two decades, water agencies have been working together to build up the Sacramento Regional Groundwater Bank. The “bank” is a natural underground aquifer that spreads out below the Valley and Foothills around Sacramento. That space has the capacity to hold twice the amount of water of Folsom Lake. … ” Read more from KCRA.
NAPA/SONOMA
Commentary: Oversight plan would burden North Coast vineyards
Dayna Ghirardelli, executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, writes, “Regulatory compliance is part of doing business when you are a farmer, but when do the mandates become so burdensome that operating a farm may not pencil out? This, no doubt, is a leading question in agriculture these days. Currently, it is a matter front and center for some 1,500 winegrape growers in Northern California who are facing a proposed new order on water-discharge requirements. If enacted, the draft order from the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board would apply to all “commercial vineyards”—regardless of size—in the Russian River and Navarro River watersheds. The water-quality monitoring and reporting requirements as proposed are not reasonable. That’s because the proposal puts the burden of proof solely on the vineyard industry to collect and report data on the sediment load of an entire watershed that can be impacted by numerous uses. … ” Continue reading this commentary.
BAY AREA
Joe Montana played at Candlestick dump. He may live under similar conditions in S.F.
“Joe Montana played most of the home games of his Hall of Fame career at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, a place noted for its “far from pleasing aroma.” The legendary 49ers quarterback may be living under similar conditions these days. Montana and his neighbors have filed a lawsuit against San Francisco that alleges “hazardous, toxic, dangerous and unsafe” conditions have allowed “highly contaminated and toxic fecal and other raw sewage matter” to overflow into their homes. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Bay Area climate ‘hot spots’ need immediate action
“Greenbelt Alliance, a local nonprofit organization, is sounding the alarm on 18 Bay Area communities that need climate action now, with five being labeled as “hot spots” due to overlapping risks to disasters making them a top priority. For the last 65 years, Greenbelt Alliance has made it their mission is to educate, advocate and collaborate to ensure the Bay Area’s lands and communities are resilient to a changing climate. After extensive research, they’re pairing up with local nonprofits to begin urgent work in those hot spots to identify and deploy nature-based solutions to build resilience to worsening climate impacts. … ” Read more from NBC Bay Area.
CENTRAL COAST
‘Big black clouds’ of thousands of anchovies flood CA harbor — and experts are concerned
“Swarms of anchovies have invaded a California harbor, raising risks of a mass die-off, state officials reported. “The anchovies are amazing,” longtime ocean swimmer Peggy Miles told the Santa Cruz Sentinel. “It’s like big black clouds in the water, and you don’t realize that it’s fish until you get there. Then, all of a sudden the cloud separates and they never touch you. It’s kind of like Moses crossing the Red Sea.” But the influx of fish, which began last week, risks depleting the shallow water’s oxygen supply, Santa Cruz Harbor officials warned Aug. 29 on Facebook. That could cause a mass die-off of fish. “This has occurred several times in the harbor’s history, with the last large-scale die-off occurring in 2014,” harbor officials said. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
‘Un-common visitors’ grace waters off California coast by the thousands. Take a look
“Thanks to warmer waters brought on by an El Niño event, “un-common visitors” are gracing the waters off the Northern California coast by the thousands, according to a whale watching company. While common dolphins have been visiting Monterey Bay over the past month, they are typically a rare sight in the area, as they prefer warm waters, Monterey Bay Whale Watch said in a Sept. 4 Facebook post. “We never know how long these charismatic and playful dolphins will hang around in the bay,” the company said. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Strawberry industry thankful for flood assistance
“California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken action to expedite recovery efforts in the central coast region following devastating floods in March. The floods, caused by record rainfall in the Pajaro and Salinas Rivers, resulted in historic flooding and levee failures. Flooding impacted nearly five percent of local farms and caused millions in damage to crops, property, and equipment. Working in collaboration with the California Strawberry Commission (CSC), Governor Newsom signed an executive order aimed at expediting critical work such as levee repairs and debris removal. This proactive approach is designed to safeguard local communities in anticipation of potential wet seasons in the future. … ” Read more from Ag Net West.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Manteca water use surpasses growth rate during August
“Year-to-year water use increased 4.15 percent in August. The increase in water use surpassed the city’s growth rate of 2.3 percent for the same time period. In broad terms, that means water use per capita is exceeding the growth rate. Last month had more days in excess of 100 degrees than August of 2022. That said, the city in both years was under water restrictions that limited outside irrigating to two days a week and banned the use of non-potable water for landscaping that did not serve a purpose other than as eye candy. … ” Read more from the Manteca Bulletin.
East Orosi residents protest what they say is abusive, dysfunctional water district
“Just as residents in rural East Orosi are getting some traction on drinking water issues, they are dealing with what they call abusive treatment over sewage services and they’ve had enough. At a recent protest during the East Orosi Community Services District meeting, about 40 residents laid out charges of mistreatment. They alleged the district has overcharged them and even threatened to call immigration services on some residents. They laid the blame at the feet of a single district employee and what they say is a dysfunctional board. The problem is apparently tangled up with conjoined water issues that have separate oversight authority – sewage and drinking water. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Residential water use in Los Angeles declines after winter rains
“Los Angeles saw its eighth wettest season in 145 years last winter. The torrential downpours did more than fill aquifers, shrink water waste complaints and ease drought concerns—they also led to the biggest cutbacks in regional residential water use in four years. The average customer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power used 59.5 gallons per day from Jan. 1–May 31, according to publicly available water use and conservation data from the California State Water Resources Control Board. This marked an 11% drop from the same period last year, and was the lowest recorded figure since 2019 (the 2023 figures are preliminary and subject to a slight revision). … ” Read more from Crosstown LA.
San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency planning new percolation basins
“The San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency (SGPWA), a Southern California State Water Contractor, is planning a new set of percolation basins to support growing demand for water storage. SGPWA is planning the Brookside West Recharge Facility, which would complement the agency’s existing Brookside East Recharge Facility. Brookside West’s 62.5 acres would house approximately 25 acres of recharge ponds. The ponds, or basins, would import water from the State Water Project and filter the water down through layers of soil and rock to be stored underground. The facility may also be used for local stormwater capture and to recharge treated reclaimed water. … ” Read more from Water World.
10 things to know about Doheny desal plant
Brooke Staggs writes, “It’s been nearly a year since the California Coastal Commission gave an Orange County water district the green light to build a new desalination plant in Dana Point. So I decided to check in to see how the project is coming along. In not surprising news, the plant’s price tag has gotten a bit bigger while its timeline has gotten a bit longer. But the project is still advancing, and it’s serving as a model for water regulators as they develop a new set of guidelines aimed at making the ocean a bigger source of California drinking water going forward. Here are 10 things to know about the Doheny desalination plant. … ” Continue reading at the OC Register.
UC Irvine leads regional project to reduce climate change risks in California
“A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of California, Irvine, in collaboration with cohorts from UC Riverside and UC San Diego, will lead a project that enables tribes and community groups to partner with universities and land managers to reduce climate change risks. A $5.5 million grant from the UC Office of the President supports the formation of the Wildland-Urban Interface Climate Action Network, with the goal of creating knowledge and climate solutions that ensure a resilient relationship between society and wild landscapes. WUICAN will fund community leaders in assessing needs for climate action and designing appropriate responses in partnership with policy experts. By leveraging innovative climate research, land stewardship and educational projects, WUICAN will produce science-based and community-driven best practices for dealing with climate risks. … ” Read more from UC Irvine.
SAN DIEGO
Viewers react to San Diego releasing 11 billion gallons of water from Lake Hodges
“When CBS 8 reported that the City of San Diego had released 11 billion gallons of water over the past year from Lake Hodges, the emails started coming in. “Besides the water losses, the lake level is too low to operate the 40 MW hydroelectric facility,” a viewer named Kurt wrote. He’s talking about the Lake Hodges Pumped Storage Facilities, a $208 million hydroelectric plant that uses water from Lake Hodges to generate enough electricity to power 26,000 homes annually. … ” Read more from Channel 8.
In split vote, San Diego County supervisors wade into hotly debated water dispute
“San Diego County supervisors have formally weighed in on a contentious — and increasingly costly — plan by two rural water districts to break away from a regional authority they say is too expensive. The county board voted 3-1 last week in favor of a recommendation from Supervisor Joel Anderson to support state legislation that would require approval by a majority of all voters within the regional water authority — rather than only those residents of a breakaway district. “This process would allow water customers of all (San Diego County Water Authority) member agencies to decide what is best for our region’s water future and the potential implications of their own water bills,” the former state senator told his board colleagues. … ” Read more from the Del Mar Times.
Along the Colorado River …
Bypassing Glen Canyon Dam, once considered a radical idea, is becoming mainstream
“The Bureau of Reclamation is analyzing future operations of Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. The Colorado River reservoir is facing record low water levels that threaten the current system, and conservationists are proposing a work-around: a tunnel to bypass the dam. Last year, analysts warned that if water levels got much lower, the turbines that generate power at Glen Canyon Dam could be damaged. The only other way to release water is through outlet pipes below the turbines, which were not built to withstand daily use. In a brief but detailed letter, Arizona and the other Lower Basin states recently urged the Bureau to consider a number of steps, including a bypass tunnel. Some Imperial Valley farmers, who irrigate with Colorado River water, weighed in with a similar message. … ” Read more from KJZZ.
UArizona experts suggest solutions to encourage food, water and economic security in a changing climate
“Most of the world’s food is grown in semi-arid environments like Arizona. Yet, growing food reliably in such places will become more challenging as temperatures rise and water supplies dwindle, experts say. This threat to the state’s agricultural sector – a major player in American food production – is especially acute for rural communities at the heart of agricultural production. University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins convened the Presidential Advisory Commission on the Future of Agriculture and Food Production in a Drying Climate in December and tasked it with proposing solutions to this problem. After six months of consulting and surveying experts and stakeholders, a report outlining recommendations is now available. The commission identified threats to Arizona agriculture and potential solutions before recommending five actions that the University of Arizona can take. … ” Read more from the University of Arizona.
Rio Verde Foothills will see water by end of month after Scottsdale approves deal
“Rio Verde Foothills residents will have a new source of hauled water by the end of September after the Scottsdale City Council unanimously approved a short-term water agreement at its Tuesday night meeting. The agreement comes after months of uncertainty for the community, located just east of Scottsdale in unincorporated Maricopa County. It was left without a reliable source of water after Scottsdale cut off its supply in January. City officials cited concerns about ongoing drought conditions on the Colorado River. The community’s standpipe district, established in June by state lawmakers, had already approved the agreement on Saturday. Tuesday’s unanimous thumbs up by Scottsdale’s City Council was the last major hurdle Rio Verde Foothills needed to jump in order to secure some relief for its residents after nine months of water woes. … ” Read more from Arizona Central.
Feds to send ‘once-in-a-generation funding’ to Utah, Western conservation projects
“Federal land managers on Tuesday announced they are sending $28 million to six conservation groups to improve and conserve public lands across the West, including multiple projects in Utah. The Bureau of Land Management picked the Salt Lake City-based Mule Deer Foundation, as well as the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Diné Native Plants Program, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited as a part of the program, using funds set aside from the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year. “These projects … are made possible by once-in-a-generation funding that will help the BLM restore and protect our shared public lands, wildlife habit and clean water, all for future generations,” BLM director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning. “It’s difficult to overstate the importance of partnerships to our effort to restore our nation’s public lands.” … ” Read more from KSL.
A Colorado city has been battling for decades to use its own water
“Jack Ethredge could see the future. It was 1985, and Mr. Ethredge, then the city manager of Thornton, Colo., understood that sooner or later, the Denver suburb would need more water. The population was booming, businesses were flocking to the Mountain West, and Thornton had no major lakes or rivers of its own, nor any meaningful amount of groundwater to draw upon, a fluke of geology and geography. The city had drilled a dozen or so wells over the years, but the groundwater’s limited supply and high mineral content meant it wasn’t fit for drinking. So at Mr. Ethredge’s behest, Thornton went shopping. The City Council bought about 17,000 acres of farmland 60 miles to the north, near Fort Collins, along with the associated water rights. When the time was right, Thornton would divert the water from the Cache la Poudre River that irrigated that farmland, put it in a pipeline and send it downstate. “In the water business you have to be years and years ahead of the game,” Mr. Ethredge, now retired, said in an interview. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
In national water news today …
Water-quality risks linked more to social factors than money
“When we determine which communities are more likely to get their water from contaminated supplies, median household income is not the best measure. That’s according to a recent study led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin that found social factors — such as low population density, high housing vacancy, disability and race — can have a stronger influence than median household income on whether a community’s municipal water supply is more likely to have health-based water-quality violations. In general, rural communities and communities that grew up around large industries that have since left are most likely to face water-quality issues. … ” Read more from University of Texas.
Disparities in who dwells behind US levees
“In the United States, tens of millions of people live behind levees, but historically disadvantaged groups are more likely to live behind subpar levees and have fewer resources to maintain critical levee infrastructure, a new study reveals. The study is the first to quantify the national disparity of disadvantaged communities living in levee-protected areas, which puts people at increased risk of flooding and other issues. The United States is crosscut by several thousand miles of levees. Most are earthworks dating to the 18th and 19th centuries, when they were built to protect farmers’ fields and small riverside communities. They were not designed or built to serve as critical infrastructure protecting millions of people 150 years later. “The overall impact of a levee failure depends heavily on the community living behind the levee,” said Farshid Vahedifard, a civil engineer at Tufts University who led the study. “Levees are one of the most important examples of infrastructure inequity, which is a longstanding issue in our country. … ” Continue reading from the AGU.
Biden administration announces joint conservation efforts with environmental groups
“The Biden administration is partnering with six environmental and conservation advocacy groups as it aims to advance conservation in the western U.S., it said Tuesday. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will use $28 million in funds from the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act for the conservation of public lands. It will partner with groups including the Nature Conservancy, as well as those focused on issues such as hunting, fishing and native plants. The projects funded under the program will aim to restore western watersheds, conserve habitat for the mule deer and sage grouse, remove or modify fences and assist a Navajo native plant program. … ” Read more from The Hill.
International report confirms record-high greenhouse gases, global sea levels in 2022
“Greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea level and ocean heat content reached record highs in 2022, according to the 33rd annual State of the Climate report offsite link. The international annual review of the world’s climate, led by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society offsite link (AMS), is based on contributions from more than 570 scientists in over 60 countries. It provides the most comprehensive update on Earth’s climate indicators, notable weather events and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments located on land, water, ice and in space. “This report is a truly international effort to more fully understand climate conditions around the globe and our capacity to observe them,” said NCEI Director Derek Arndt. “It is like an annual physical of the Earth system, and it serves present and future generations by documenting and sharing data that indicate increasingly extreme and changing conditions in our warming world.” … ” Read more from NOAA.
Summer 2023 was the hottest on record globally, new figures show
“This summer was the warmest on record globally by a large margin as extreme heat waves impacted North America, Europe and Asia, according to Europe’s Earth observation agency Copernicus. Temperatures in June, July and August were 0.66 degrees Celsius above the average between 1991 and 2020, Copernicus said. Last month was the warmest August on record globally and the second-warmest month ever — only after July 2023. “The scientific evidence is overwhelming,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. “We will continue to see more climate records and more intense and frequent extreme weather events impacting society and ecosystems, until we stop emitting greenhouse gases.” … ” Read more from Bloomberg.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
NOTICE: Clear Lake Draft Emergency Regulations
